We Will Never Forget

September 11, 2001, was a day that we will all remember. This was a day when Americans of all colors and stripes stood together in the wake of an attack on a scale not seen in our country since Pearl Harbor. Today, we remember where we were and what we were doing on that fateful day.

Tara Vonnahme: I was at work in Tampa, FL, a short distance away from where President Bush was visiting a local school and by the Middle Eastern hub for the US military. My only child at the time was in preschool on the other side of the city. So it was absolute panic getting to her with fighter jets flying closely overhead.

Matt Vonnahme: I was in my 4th week of boot camp for the Marine Corps in San Diego, CA. We were training outside when we noticed planes stopped taking off at the airport that our base shared a fence with. Our instructors brought us all into an auditorium, gave us a 5 minute speech of what happened, and we didn’t hear a word about it for the next 2 months.

Jacquelyn Johnson: I was walking down my stairs holding my baby when the news broke. I was in law school getting ready to drop off my child at daycare and leave for class. I remember being horrified at the images I was seeing and then that quickly turned into anger after it was clear this was being done on purpose.

Gretchen Cooper: I was in law school at USD. I had just left Property class and noticed a lot of people in the lounge watching the news. When I walked up, everyone was so still they looked like statues. Looking at the TV, I understood why. There were no words.

Lisa Cornell: I was working at the county clerk’s office. After the news broke, we all stopped work and our eyes were glued to the television. It was hard to move as our hearts sank for all those affected.

Amber Munoz: I was working nights at the time, so when I woke up at home, the news had already broke. At first I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I didn’t think something like this could happen to us.